Hinge apparatus for cover of image forming apparatus

ABSTRACT

A hinge apparatus for a cover of an image forming apparatus has a hinge body with supporting brackets, movably inserted into a coupling hole positioned in a main body of the image forming apparatus, a hinge cam connected to the cover and pivotably connected to the supporting brackets, and a pressure device disposed at the hinge body to press the hinge cam. Accordingly, the hinge apparatus can be implemented with a simple and easy assembly operation, since it is not a complicated structural connection among the component parts of the hinge apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/213,867 filed on Jun. 25, 2008 in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/213,867 is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/757,999 filed on Jan. 16, 2004 inthe U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/757,999 issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,406,747 on Aug. 5, 2008. Thisapplication claims the priority benefit of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/213,867, the priority benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/757,999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,406,747), and the priority benefit ofKorean Patent Application No. 2003-27806, filed Apr. 30, 2003 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a hinge apparatus, and moreparticularly to a hinge apparatus that supports a cover of an imageforming apparatus, such as a photocopier, a scanner, or a multifunctionmachine, so that the cover thereof pivotably opens and closes.

2. Description of the Related Art

An image forming apparatus, which has document scanning function like aphotocopier, a scanner, or a multifunction machine, scans a document,then stores a scanned image as data, or prints the image on a printingpaper. Such an image forming apparatus includes a document glassdisposed on a main body of the image forming apparatus to scan thedocument, a cover to secure the document laid on the document glass, anda hinge apparatus connecting the cover and the main body of the imageforming apparatus.

FIG. 1 shows a hinge apparatus 30 to open and close the cover of theconventional image forming apparatus 10, disclosed in Japanese PatentPublication No. 11305358. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional hingeapparatus 30 includes a hinge body 32 integrally formed with a springpin 31, and a spring 33 connected to the spring pin 31 at one end. Acover 20 is provided with a hinge pin 21 that is inserted into a longhole 32 a positioned in the hinge body 32. The spring 33 is connected tothe hinge pin 21, and therefore, the cover 20 and the hinge apparatus 30form a set. A cam part 20 a, which is disposed at the cover 20, is intight contact with the hinge body 32 under a recovery force of thespring 33. Furthermore, the hinge body 32 is disposed to move upward anddownward within a coupling hole 10 a positioned in the main body of theimage forming apparatus 10.

The conventional image forming apparatus with the above structure has adocument glass 11, which is exposed and covered through pivoting of thecover 20 centering on the hinge pin 21. The cover 20 opens and closesslowly, since the cover 20 is moved with the cam part 20 a of the cover20 being in close contact with the hinge body 32. Moreover, when a thickdocument is laid upon the document glass 11, the hinge body 32 is liftedupward to a predetermined height, so that the cover 20 uniformly pressesthe document, such as a thick book, laid upon the document glass 11.

But in the above conventional hinge apparatus 30, there is a difficultyin assembling the cover 20 and the hinge apparatus 30, since the bothends of the spring 33 are directly connected with the cover 20 and thehinge body 32, that are respectively at an opposite side. In otherwords, the spring 33 has a high elastic modulus to secure a slow openingand closing of the cover is used, and accordingly it is not easy toconnect the spring 33 with the spring pin 31 of the hinge apparatus 30and with the hinge pin 21 of the cover 20.

Also, a friction between the cam part 20 a of the cover 20 and the hingebody 32 generates a noise in opening and closing of the cover 20.Another problem is that the hinge body 32 can be released out of thecoupling hole 10 a of the main body of the image forming apparatus, whena thick document is being scanned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been made to solve the aforementionedproblems. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to providea hinge apparatus for a cover of an image forming apparatus, which isassembled with ease and decreases a noise occurring in opening andclosing the cover.

To achieve the above and/or other aspects of the present invention, ahinge apparatus for a cover of the image forming apparatus is provided.The hinge apparatus opens and closes the cover of the image formingapparatus, and pivotably connects a main body of the image formingapparatus with the cover, to expose and cover a document glass. Thehinge apparatus has: a hinge body, movably inserted in a first directioninto a coupling hole positioned in the main body of the image formingapparatus, and having supporting brackets; a hinge cam, of which oneside is connected to the cover, and pivotably connected to thesupporting brackets; and a pressure device disposed at the hinge body topress the hinge cam.

According to one aspect, a housing chamber is provided within the hingebody, and the pressure device has: a pusher disposed in the housingchamber, that protrudes out of the housing chamber; and a springdisposed within the housing chamber to press the pusher.

According to one aspect, the hinge cam has a body portion connected tothe cover, and a cam part pivotably connected to the body in closecontact with the pressure device.

According to one aspect, each of the supporting brackets and the campart is provided with a shaft hole, and the hinge apparatus additionallyhas a hinge shaft inserted through the respective shaft holes, topivotably connect the cam part with the supporting brackets.

According to one aspect, a center of the hinge shaft is located towardthe document glass compared to a pressure central line of the pressuredevice.

According to one aspect, the pusher has a locking protrusion, the hingebody is provided with a guide slot, and the locking protrusion isinserted into the guide slot, and prevents the release of the pusherfrom the hinge body.

According to one aspect, the hinge body has, a first protrusionpositioned at one side of the hinge body, to prevent the supportingbrackets from entering the coupling hole.

According to one aspect, the main body has: a hooking portion positionedat the lower part of the main body of the image forming apparatus; and,the hinge body has a second protrusion positioned at a first side of thehinge body, that is caught by the hooking portion, which prevents therelease of the hinge body from the coupling hole when the hinge body ismoved in a direction opposite the first direction.

According to one aspect, at least one of the pusher and the hinge cam ismade of a lubricating resin.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and/or advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from thefollowing description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a cross sectional view of a conventional hinge apparatus toopen and close a cover of an image forming apparatus;

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of a hinge apparatus to openand close a cover according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a view of the hinge apparatus of FIG. 2 connected to thecover of the image forming apparatus after assembly; and

FIGS. 4 through 7 show cross sectional views, to describe an operationof the hinge apparatus of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the presentinvention by referring to the figures.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a hinge apparatus 100 to open and close acover 50 of an image forming apparatus 40, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, includes a hinge body 110, a pressure device 120,and a hinge cam 130.

The shown embodiment of the hinge body 110 has a configuration of ahexahedron box, of which an interior is void and one side is opened, andis received in a coupling hole 40 a positioned in a main body of theimage forming apparatus 40, to be moved upward and downward. A housingchamber 111 is provided inside of the hinge body 110, and at one side ofthe housing chamber 111, an open portion 111 a is positioned tocommunicate with an exterior. It is understood, however, that the hingebody 110 can have other configurations that the shown hexahedron box.

Furthermore, a pair of supporting brackets 113 extended from sidewallsof the hinge body 110, and are positioned at sides of the open portion111 a. Each of the supporting brackets 113 supports the hinge cam 130and has a shaft hole 113 a therein. At the sidewalls of the hinge body110, guide slots 112 a are positioned to guide an upward and downwardmovement of the pressure device 120.

Also, on each of a front wall 114 and a rear wall 115 of the hinge body110, that are connected with the sidewalls, a first protrusion 116 ispositioned to protrude outward, thereby restricting the inserting rangeof the supporting brackets 113 into the coupling hole 40 a. The firstprotrusions 116 are located at lower parts of the supporting brackets113. When the hinge body 110 is inserted into the coupling hole 40 a,the first protrusions 116 are caught at the main body of the imageforming apparatus 40, and therefore, the supporting brackets 113protrude above a document glass 41 of the main body of the image formingapparatus 40.

Also, on a bottom wall 118 of the hinge body 110 opposite to the openportion 111 a, a spring support 117 protrudes to support a first end ofa spring 122, which will be described later.

In addition, at a lower part of the front wall 114, a second protrusion119 protrudes, and is coplanar with the bottom wall 118. When the hingebody 110 is moved out of the coupling hole 40 a, since the secondprotrusion 119 is caught by a hooking portion 42 disposed at one side ofthe main body of the image forming apparatus 40, as shown in FIG. 4, therelease of the hinge body 110 from the coupling hole 40 a is prevented.

The pressure device 120 includes a pusher 121 and the spring 122, for asmooth pivoting of the hinge cam 130, since the pressure device 120inhibits the pivoting of the hinge cam 130 pivotably supported by thesupporting brackets 113. The pusher 121 is disposed to move downward andupward, to protrude outward through the open portion 111 a of the hingebody 110. The pusher 121 has locking protrusions 123 on opposing sides,positioned so that the locking protrusion 123 is inserted into the guideslots 112 a of the hinge body 110. Therefore, the pusher 121 movesupward and downward within the length of the guide slots 112 a, so thatthe pusher 121 is not released from the hinge body 110. The spring 122,that presses the pusher 121 toward the open portion 111 a, is disposedwithin the housing chamber 111. The first end of the spring 122 issupported by the spring support 117 of the hinge body 110, and a secondend of the spring 122 is supported by a spring support 124 (see FIG. 4)positioned at a lower part of the pusher 121.

In assembling the pressure device 120, after the spring 122 is disposedin the housing chamber 111, the pusher 121 is connected to the hingebody 110. The pusher 121, which is elastically supported by the spring121, has the locking protrusions 123, which contact upper sides of theguide slots 112 a. Assembly is simplified if a length of the spring 122is substantially the same as a height from a bottom of the pusher 121 tothe bottom wall 118 when the locking protrusions 123 contact the uppersides of the guide slots 112 a. In this case, as the pusher 121 ispushed into the housing chamber 111 to insert the locking protrusions123 into the guide slots 112 a, a strain of the spring 122 does notoccur. Accordingly, the user does not need to induce a strain pressureon the spring 122, which according to one aspect, has a high elasticstiffness. While described in terms of a spring 122, it is understoodthat other mechanisms can be used to bias the pusher 121, such ascombinations of springs, hydraulic or pneumatic mechanisms, elasticmaterials, of other such devices.

In addition, according to one aspect, the pusher 121 is made of alubricating resin, since there is a friction inherent in the slidingmovement of the hinge cam 130. So-called “engineering plastics” can beused as the lubricating resin, such as polyethylene, polybutyleneterephthalate, and polyamide.

The hinge cam 130 includes a body portion 131 connected to the cover 50of the image forming apparatus, and a cam part 132 to slide in closecontact with the pusher 121, under a predetermined pressure. The bodyportion 131 has a screw hole 131 a, and is combined with the cover 50 byinserting a fastening member, like a screw 60, into a boss portion 52(see FIG. 4), through the screw hole 131 a, with one side of the bodyportion 131 being supported by a locking projection 51 (see FIG. 4) inthe cover 50.

The cam part 132 is integrally combined to the body portion 131, and hasa shaft hole 132 a. To put the hinge cam 131 in a condition ready topivot on a hinge shaft 140, the cam part 132 is positioned in such amanner that the shaft hole 132 a of the cam part 132 is aligned with theshaft holes 113 a of the supporting brackets 113, and then the hingeshaft 140 is inserted into each shaft hole 113 a, 132 a.

A groove portion 140 a is positioned at one end of the hinge shaft 140.When the hinge shaft 140 is inserted into and passed through the shafthole 132 a of the cam part 132 and the shaft holes 113 a of thesupporting brackets 113, a coupling ring 141 is fixed to the grooveportion 140 a. As a result, the hinge shaft 140 is prevented fromreleasing out of each shaft hole 113 a, 132 a.

As shown in FIG. 5, according to one aspect, a center C of the hingeshaft 140 is located at a predetermined interval toward a direction ofthe document glass 41 from a pressure central line L of the hinge cam130 and the pusher 121. As a result, the pivot of the hinge cam 130 ismore efficiently inhibited. According to one aspect, this allows, thespring 122 employed to be inexpensive, and have a low elastic modulus.In addition, according to one aspect, since there is friction inherentin the sliding movement of the pusher 121, the hinge cam 130 is madewith a lubricating resin, such as polyethylene, polybutyleneterephthalate, and polyamide.

Meanwhile, although the above embodiment of the present inventionemploys the hinge shaft 140 as a way to combine the hinge cam 130 to thehinge body 110, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.Therefore, the hinge cam 130 can be pivotably connected to the hingebody 110 through various ways. For example, according to one aspect,although not shown in the drawings, protrusions are positioned at sidesof the cam part 132 in the hinge cam 130, and the protrusions areinserted into the shaft holes 113 a of the supporting brackets 113.

Hereinafter, referring to the attached drawings, an operation of thehinge apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present inventionis described in detail.

To insert the hinge apparatus 100 connected with the cover 50 into thecoupling hole 40 a in the main body of the image forming apparatus 40,as shown in FIG. 4, the hinge body 110 is first tilted so that thesecond protrusion 119 can be inserted into the coupling hole 40 a in themain body of the image forming apparatus 40. Then, after moving thehinge body 110 to an upright position along a direction of arrow A, andinserting an end of the rear wall 115 of the hinge body 110 into thecoupling hole 40 a, the hinge body 110 is pushed into the coupling hole40 a. As the first protrusion 116 of the hinge body 110 contacts anupper side of the main body of the image forming apparatus 40, the cover50 and the main body of the image forming apparatus 40 are coupled bythe hinge apparatus 100. The cover 50 can secure a thin document such asa sheet of paper in tight contact with the document glass 41, as shownin FIG. 5.

In addition, to open the cover 50 and expose the document glass 41, asshown in FIG. 6, the cover 50 is pivoted and pushed over completely in aclockwise direction, and then the hinge cam 130 and the pusher 121contact under the least pressure, since the spring is in a leastcompressed state. Then, if a document is positioned on the documentglass 41 and the cover 50 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction,the pivoting of the hinge cam 130 is inhibited, as the pressure betweenthe hinge cam 130 and the pusher 121 increases continuously. As aresult, the cover 50 closes slowly.

In the mean time, if a thick document, like a book, is positioned on thedocument glass 41, as shown in FIG. 7, the hinge body 110 is movedupward to an upper side of the coupling hole 40 a, to expand a spacebetween the cover 50 in the closed position and the document glass 41.In a process of moving the hinge body 110 to the upper side of thecoupling hole 40 a, the second protrusion 119 of the hinge body 110 iscaught by the hooking portion 42 on the main body of the image formingapparatus 40. Consequently, the hinge body 110 is not released out ofthe coupling hole 40 a.

According to the embodiment of the present invention described above,there is an advantage that the hinge apparatus 100 can be implementedwith a simple and easy assembly operation, since it is not a complicatedstructural connection among the component parts that compose the hingeapparatus 100.

Also, the hinge apparatus 100 can efficiently improve the usability ofthe image forming apparatus, since the hinge apparatus 100 decreasesnoise occurring when opening and closing the cover 50, and prevents thecover 50 from unintentionally closing.

While described as being used in an image forming apparatus, it isunderstood that the hinge apparatus 100 would be useful in other devicesbeyond image forming apparatuses, such as presses that compress varioussize items, cooking apparatuses, etc.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in this embodiment without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. A hinge apparatus comprising: a hinge body having a hollow section; abiasing member disposed in the hollow section of the hinge body; apusher biased toward a first end of the hinge body via the biasingmember; and a hinge cam rotatably coupled to the hinge body, and movablyengaging the pusher, wherein the hinge body comprises a first protrusionthat protrudes outward to restrict an insertion range of the hinge bodywithin a coupling hole formed in a main body of an image formingapparatus, wherein a pair of supporting brackets extend from sidewallsof the hinge body, and the hinge cam is pivotably connected to thesupporting brackets via a hinge shaft,
 2. The hinge apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein a center of the hinge shaft is positioned at apredetermined interval toward a direction of a document glass of themain body of the image forming apparatus from a pressure central line ofthe hinge cam and the pusher.
 3. The hinge apparatus according to claim1, wherein the hinge body is adapted to guide the pusher up and downwithin the hollow section of the hinge body.
 4. The hinge apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein guide slots are formed in sidewalls of thehinge body to guide an upward and downward movement of the pusher withinthe hollow section of the hinge body.
 5. The hinge apparatus accordingto claim 3, wherein the pusher comprises a guide member, and the hingebody is provided with a guide slot formed in sidewalls thereof to guidethe guide member of the pusher within the hinge body.
 6. The hingeapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first protrusion comprises aplurality of protrusions located at lower parts of the supportingbrackets such that when the hinge body is inserted into a coupling holeformed in a main body of an image forming apparatus, the protrusions arecaught at the main body of the image forming apparatus and thesupporting brackets are positioned above a document glass of the mainbody of the image forming apparatus.
 7. The hinge apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the hinge body comprises a second protrusion to limitan amount of the hinge body that can move out of the coupling holeformed in the main body of the image forming apparatus.
 8. An imageforming apparatus comprising: a main body of the image forming apparatusincluding components to scan a document and print a scanned image on aprinting paper; a document glass disposed on the main body for placing adocument to be scanned; a cover member to cover a document placed on thedocument glass; and the hinge apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe hinge apparatus is coupled to the cover and the main body of theimage forming apparatus.
 9. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 8, wherein a pair of coupling holes are formed in the main body ofthe image forming apparatus, each coupling hole adapted to receive atleast a portion of the hinge body of the hinge apparatus.
 10. The imageforming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a center of the hingeshaft is positioned at a predetermined interval toward a direction ofthe document glass of the main body of the image forming apparatus froma pressure central line of the hinge cam and the pusher.
 11. The imageforming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the first protrusioncomprises a plurality of protrusions located at lower parts of thesupporting brackets such that when the hinge body is inserted into acoupling hole formed in a main body of an image forming apparatus, theprotrusions are caught at the main body of the image forming apparatusand the supporting brackets are positioned above a document glass of themain body of the image forming apparatus.
 12. The image formingapparatus according to claim 11, wherein guide slots are formed insidewalls of the hinge body to guide an upward and downward movement ofthe pusher within the hollow section of the hinge body.
 13. The imageforming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the pusher comprises aguide member, and the hinge body is provided with a guide slot formed insidewalls thereof to guide the guide member of the pusher within thehinge body.
 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8,wherein the hinge body comprises a second protrusion to limit an amountof the hinge body that can move out of the coupling hole formed in themain body of the image forming apparatus.
 15. The image formingapparatus according to claim 9, wherein the hinge cam includes a bodyportion connected to the cover member so as to pivotably connect thecover member to the main body.
 16. A hinge apparatus for pivotablyconnecting a cover to a main body of an image forming apparatus, thehinge apparatus comprising: a hinge body with a void therein and asupporting bracket; a pressure device, movable in the void, and biasedtoward a first end of the hinge body; and a hinge cam rotatablyconnected to the supporting bracket, and movably engaging the pressuredevice, wherein the hinge body comprises a first protrusion to limit anamount the hinge body moves into an opening in the main body.
 17. Thehinge apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the hinge cam includes abody portion connected to the cover so as to pivotably connect the coverto the main body.
 18. The hinge apparatus of claim 17, wherein the hingecam and the supporting bracket are provided with a shaft hole,respectively, wherein a hinge shaft is inserted through the respectiveshaft holes, to pivotably connect the hinge cam to the supportingbracket.
 19. The hinge apparatus of claim 18, wherein a center of thehinge shaft is offset from a pressure central line of the pressuredevice.
 20. The hinge apparatus of claim 19, wherein a center of thehinge shaft is located toward the document glass compared to a pressurecentral line of the pressure device.
 21. The hinge apparatus accordingto claim 16, wherein the void of the hinge body extends in thelongitudinal direction of the opening in the main body.
 22. The hingeapparatus according to claim 16, wherein the hinge body is movable in anupward direction and a downward direction within the opening in the mainbody.
 23. The hinge apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the hingebody further comprises a second protrusion to limit an amount the hingebody moving upwardly out of the opening in the main body.
 24. The hingeapparatus according to claim 16, wherein the pressure device comprises aguide member, and the hinge body is provided with a receiving membercorresponding to the guide member to guide a movement of the pressuredevice.
 25. A hinge apparatus for pivotally attaching a cover to a mainbody of an image forming apparatus, the cover for covering a documentplaced on a document glass of a scanning unit of the image formingapparatus, the hinge apparatus comprising: a hinge body comprising ahousing chamber and supporting brackets, the hinge body adapted to beinserted into an opening in the main body of the image formingapparatus; a hinge cam pivotably connected to the supporting brackets; apressure device movably disposed within the hinge body, wherein the campart and the supporting bracket are provided with a shaft hole,respectively, and the hinge apparatus further comprises a hinge shaftinserted through the respective shaft holes, to pivotably connect thecam part to the supporting brackets, wherein a center of the hinge shaftis located toward the document glass compared to a pressure central lineof the pressure device.
 26. The hinge apparatus according to claim 25,wherein the pressure device comprises: a pusher movably disposed withinthe hinge body; and an elastic member disposed within the hinge body topress the pusher against the hinge cam.